I believe in the real-life example where they were literally giving away Detroit houses, the obligations were that you needed to maintain the property to a "reasonable" level, and that you needed to pay property tax on the value of the property based on the assessment PRIOR to the free giveaway assessment.
These obligations, alongside the penalty of being directly in downtown detroit, made it so bad that even homeless people wouldn't sign on.
I believe in the real-life example where they were literally giving away Detroit houses, the obligations were that you needed to maintain the property to a "reasonable" level, and that you needed to pay property tax on the value of the property based on the assessment PRIOR to the free giveaway assessment.
These obligations, alongside the penalty of being directly in downtown detroit, made it so bad that even homeless people wouldn't sign on.
They have "free" houses in Italy with the same deal. If you are exceptionally and independently capable, it could be a good deal.